Jyoti Sinha shines on stage

The girl is simple yet passionate. Her passion is for creativity.
This Jyoti Sinha. Her play ‘Kohe Birangona’ had generated has been highly appreciated. She has played four different roles in the drama- Shakuntala, Draupadi, Duhshala and Jana.

The 49th and 50th shows of the drama were staged in Dhaka.
However, during the 49th show, Jyoti Sinha somehow faltered in her pace. Her performance was quite not up to mark. Director Shuvashis Sinha was not pleased with the performance.

“I think you are done. You better quit the show,” Shuvashis told Jyoti after the show.
That hit Jyoti and she upped her game at once. She started rehearsing alone. She went over the dialogues loudly. Rehearsal became her only passion.

And then Jyoti took her performance in 50th show of ‘Kohe Birangona’ to different level. Both the director and the audiences were mesmerised by her acting skills.

Jyoti Sinha was born in Sylhet in 1984 though is originally from Kamalganj of Moulvibazar.
Dance and music were always very close to her heart since childhood. She was introduced to dance at a young age in a popular TV reality show ‘Eso Nach Shikhi’ hosted by Laila Hassan.

Jyoti took music lessons from renowned Ram Kanai Das for some time and later trained under Sharmila Sinha.
Jyoti lost her father at the age of 12 in 1996. Her family returned to Moulvibazar and settled there for good.

Young Jyoti played the role of a princess in the play ‘Ajobpurer Borshoboron’ in 1997 when Shuvashis started working for Manipuri Theatre. Since then, she has acted in many plays of Manipuri Theatre.

The actress completed her master’s in public administration. She also did Masters in anthropology and MPhil in Archaeology in 2017.
Jyoti’s turning point in her career was at the beginning of 2000. ‘Srikrishnakirtan’ was staged in Bishnupriya Manipuri language in the year. In 2001, when the drama was staged in Dhaka, it saw a huge buzz.

Jyoti has acted in more than 25 plays till date including ‘Ingal Adhar Pala’, ‘Debotar Grash’ Bhanubeel’ of Manipuri Theatre and ‘Rudhir Rongini’ jointly made by Dhaka Theatre and Theatre Art.

This young woman can work hard and has a never-ending curiosity. And the Manipuri Theatre gives great opportunity to response to such curiosity.

For instance, one may be provided with poetry with no punctuation. One has to recite it with proper pauses. There may be movie-sessions- be it Oscar winning cinemas or films from Iran, Korea, Latin or Spain. The movie session is followed by a group discussion on that particular film.
Jyoti did not want to stay in Dhaka. She returned to Kamalganj after completing her studies at Jahangirnagar University and started working in Moulvibazar Shilpakala Academy. The academy authorities cooperated with her well.

Other than cultural involvements, Jyoti is also good at sports. She is good in long-jump, high-jump and running. She loves poetry. Binoy Majumder is her favourite. She also loves read Rabindranath Tagore, Michael Madhusudan Dutta, Jibananda Das and others.
Acting legends Audrey Hepburn and Sophia Loren are her two favourite actresses.

“What are you reading now?” I asked Jyoti.
“I am reading a play ‘Happy Days’ by Samuel Beckett,” she replied.
“Don’t you read local plays?” I asked again.

“Why not?” she laughed, “We are talking to the French embassy to fund a drama on ‘Happy Days’”, she added.
The extremely talented girl loves her country with her life.

“My country is the love of my life. It’s a matter of limitless joy that I have an independent country! That joy also makes me an artist,” Jyoti said.
Apart from being a good actress, she has a mind full of love for her own hometown. She did not want to stay or work in Dhaka.

She said, no matter how low the salary may be, she wants to work in my own place. Jyoti built her own studio theatre called ‘Notmandap’ in Kamalganj’s Ghoramara village. She rehearses there regularly.

Jyoti spreads her charisma from Kamalganj across the country and to the rest of the world.
*This piece, originally published in Prothom Alo print edition, has been rewritten in English by Farjana Liakat